Missing Richmond police car found after pursuit in Ohio

RICHMOND, Ind. (WISH) — A police car missing Monday afternoon from a mall parking lot was found later in the day in the Sidney, Ohio, area, Richmond Police Department said.

While on another call, officers noticed about 1:15 p.m. Monday that a police cruiser was missing from the parking lot of Richmond Square Mall. Dispatchers tracked the car through its mapping system, and a pursuit began once Ohio law enforcement authorities caught up with the missing cruiser, said a news release from Capt. Curt Leverton of Richmond Police Department.

During the pursuit, the cruiser hit another vehicle but didn’t stop. The pursuit ended when the cruiser hit a guardrail on State Route 29 outside Sidney, Ohio, the release said. Ohio authorities apprehended the driver, Michael Gard, 32, of Richmond, shortly after he fled from the crashed car.

The release did not say what charges Gard faces in Ohio.

No equipment was taken from the car, the release said.

Richmond is a city of 35,000 on the Ohio border, about 55 miles east of Indianapolis. Sidney, Ohio, is about 45 miles northeast of Richmond.